A Blade Among the Stars
by Starmischief
Summary: Blade the cat wants to join StarWolf, but she finds herself with StarFox trying to find out who she really is.   My summeries suck, just read it!
1. Chapter 1

_"StarFox Command, we have captured the intruder, repeat, we have captured the intruder, "_

_"I…have failed. I have failed to invade the StarFox team, I can't go on…I now lay here….slipping into unconsciousness….. I await as the shadows get closer, they are grabbing me from all sides, they won't go away….please…..just go away…go…away…..I'm sorry Wolf….I tried…I tried my best for you…." _Blade awoke with a jolt, cold sweat dripping from her purple fur, she quickly rubbed her face and looked at her surroundings. A dark room, with just a small lamp to light it. She felt that she was trapped, but she also somehow felt comfort. She was laying on a bed, with soft covers around her. A warm hand rested on her shoulder.

"Your injuries were very bad, you should rest, whoever you are." Blade looked up to the face of a red vixen, whose hazel eyes sparkled like the stars themselves.

"Who, are you…..where am I?" Blade tried to figure out what was going on.

"You are being held here, until we figure out what to do with you. My name is Hikari, of StarFox. I'm supposed to be watching over you while you're here." Blade struggled to get out of bed, but failed. Hikari quickly stopped her."Don't, you won't be able to walk for a while, you're wasting your time."

"Why would you bother to save me if you wanted me gone!" Blade growled, confused.

"Whether you're an enemy or not, we couldn't leave you to die like that, you know we're not cold-hearted like StarWolf is.""StarWolf is not cold, I'd fight to the death for them!" Hikari's eyes widened when she heard this.

"So you have something to do with them? I should have known, who else would suddenly attack our base like that." Blade sunk back into the bed, holding back tears.

"I would have joined them…..but Wolf does not accept me yet, I had to prove to him that I could take down the StarFox team!" Hikari giggled at this.

"By yourself? Why would you try such a thing, and for that Wolf?"

"You don't understand, you don't know him…. Come to think of it, I never heard of you when I was studying about StarFox, how did you get on the team!"

"Well, I'm with Falco, my love." she blushed.

"Falco…..wait, he's the one who shot me down! I remember, that's the last thing I saw before I went down…. it was Falco.

"Yes, he's gotten very strong lately, I was very worried at first, but he always seems to come through in a mission." for a moment Blade seemed to forget all her hatred for StarFox, Hikari seemed so nice, was her decision to attack wrong? Could she have prevented this horrible accident?

"Mama, mama!" suddenly a young falcon-fox came running into the room, his eyes bright with life.

"Yes sweetheart what is it?" Hikari smiled.

"Dad says breakfast is ready in the main room!"

"Alright honey, I'll be right there." the child stared up at Blade with a curious look on his face.

"Who is this, mama?"

"Oh, she's…..a friend." the child just smiled and ran out of the room.

"Who was that?" Blade asked bewilderingly

."Oh, my lovely Anoki, my son." Hikari smiled and stood up.

"I have to go for now, I'll be back. "

"What about me?" Blade struggled again to get out of bed, wincing from the pain her legs gave her.

"Don't worry, I'll bring back something for you. Get some rest, and keep this on your legs so they will heal." Hikari handed Blade a small cloth with a blue-looking medicine smeared on watched as she left, wondering what she should do.

_"I don't understand, Hikari called me…..friend? I attacked her team, and yet…." _She laid her head down on her pillow.

_"Perhaps…..I was wrong, I was wrong this whole time, StarFox isn't evil, it's the opposite, its team members seem to be very nice, at least, I know Hikari is. But Wolf….he's still worth what I've been through, If I have to risk my life like that…then I must…. There must be some way I can prove to him….what I feel…." _Blade could no longer stay awake, she sunk into a deep sleep, dreaming once more of her precious Wolf….


	2. Chapter 2

"I have news on our intruder, she is known as Blade Ellen, apparently she has become a well-known criminal on planet Sauria. She had fled to Corneria recently to hide from those willing to capture her. And now she is here, in our own base." the crew sat eating their breakfast and discussing Blade.

"Hey Fox how do ya know so much about this Blade?" Falco said, with a beak full of pancakes.

"I learned this from Peppy, he's been researching her character, we should find a way to send her away, she could be dangerous while she's here." Hikari stood up

"But wait, Blade didn't seem that bad when I talked to her."

"Still, we have to be careful…" Hikari slammed her paws on the table.

"There must be a reason why she did those things!"

"She's a criminal, that's why!" the room was filled with silence. Everyone hesitated to say anything after that. They just sat and finished their breakfast. Hikari knew better, she knew there was more to Blade then what most people thought. She silently got up and walked away.

"Hey, wake up! Wake up!" Blade opened her eyes to hear a familiar voice, it was Hikari's voice.

"What?" she looked up to Hikari."Here, your breakfast." she smiled, handing her a plate full of eggs.

"Oh? Eggs are my favorite… my mom and I used to always eat eggs in the mornings, we would crack them open over a bonfire and watch them cook." Hikari looked at her strangely

"That's….strange, didn't you just use a stove?"

"Oh that… If you didn't know….I used to live on planet Sauria…so I guess you would say our customs are…strange." Blade looked down at her plate.

"Alright, I'll leave you for now, how are your legs doing?"

"They're fine, thanks" Hikari nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Blade to her thoughts, she felt much better, she thought about what she should do. With new power she tried her hardest to stand up, wincing a little, but still she put her feet on the ground and pushed herself forward, the healing medicine had helped, but there was still a bit of pain left,

"No use in staying in bed." she whispered to herself as she walked further. But before she could get to the door, someone stopped her. It was Fox.

"Hey, what are you doing out of bed?" he stared at her blankly, shocked that she could be able to get out of bed. Blade just growled.

"It's not your problem, I have to go tell Hikari something."

"You need to stay here." that was it, she already disliked Fox, that was really all it took, she wasn't a likable person herself, but that didn't bother her…did it?-

_"I have been staying here for a while now, and I have studied the people McCloud - he does not like me. It's as simple as that, he just wants me gone, I can't blame him, my actions, were regretful. He's bold, and won't listen to me. He's a brave fighter, with no intent on holding back. I have planned to test my strength against him next time. For StarWolf."_


	3. Chapter 3

Blade had decided to fight Fox, if only to prove her strength, she felt that even if she lost, she would at least show that she wasn't weak. She slowly walked through the hall until she came to his room, the door in front of her opened when she got close to was sitting on a couch looking through papers, he immediately looked up at Blade once he heard her come in.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to challenge you."

"Challenge me?"

"Yes, I want to fight."

"But Why would you-"

"Look, are you going to fight or not!" Blade was growing impatient at this moment.

"Alright, but no weapons,"

"Fine, no weapons."Blade had punched with all her strength only to have her fist meet the wall in front of her. Fox had dodged to the side, and was already trying to get a grip on her. Blade quickly turned around, swinging her leg towards him, the pain shot up her body as she realized, clearly, her leg hadn't healed all the way. Fox jumped back, waiting for the right moment to attack, until he saw Blade clutching her right leg and fighting back tears.

"You're not ready to fight like this." he said. Blade slowly got up and tried for another punch, but someone interrupted their battle.

"Are you two arguing already?" it was Hikari.

"Fox, there's a message for you in the command room, you might want to check it out." Fox nodded and left quickly, leaving Blade realized she had missed her chance.

"What are you doing messing with Fox, he's busy enough as it is." Blade hissed at her.

"Now don't be like that, I'm trying to look out for you, Fox doesn't deal too well with intruders, you're lucky he's letting you stay here at all." Blade tried to find the words to say.

"I don't want to be the weakling."

"You don't want to be reckless either. You're still healing Blade, you shouldn't try to make it worse."

"I know! I just….what kind of person would I be if I couldn't prove myself as a fighter?"

"Fighting is not all strength." Hikari smiled and held out her palm, letting tiny sparks of lighting dance from her fingertips.

"Sometimes you have to plan things through." Blade gazed in awe.

"You have the power of lightning."

"Yes, it is one of my abilities, do you have an element?" Blade flicked her claws, making a small shroud of flame.

"It's Fire." Hikari giggled.

"I suspected as much."Hikari led Blade to Falco's room, she hoped that Blade would become friends with Falco instead of fighting him too.

"Falco, you know Blade." Hikari sat down beside her falcon lover, gesturing for Blade to sit down as well.

"Yeah, she almost got me when we fought!" Blade growled instantly.

"Hey take it easy, I thought cats were supposed to be calm!"

"Falco dear don't tease Blade." Blade just stuck out her tongue, ignoring the comment from Falco.

"You two should get along." Hikari crossed her arms, it was almost as if Blade had belonged to a family where Hikari and Falco were her parents, and she was the stubborn child.

"Sure as long as kitten here doesn't get too mad with me!" the joking went on like that for a while. Blade found herself amused by Falco's comments, rather than angry. _Meanwhile in the command room…_

"You couldn't possibly do something like that!"

"I must Fox, there's been too much competition these last few years, it's time for your team to go down for good."

"Well now I'll as least be prepared!"

"You won't know when it happens, it will hit you when you least expect it, I almost feel bad for you…"

"You dirty-"

"Goodbye Fox." the screen shut down, leaving the room pitch black. No one but Fox knew the danger that awaited the StarFox Team.


	4. Chapter 4

_"A bright world, I see it. There are many creatures here, many different kinds, beasts of the ground and the sky. One stands out to me the most, a great winged creature, with scales instead of feathers, standing majestically near a waterfall. Next to the creature I see another, much smaller figure, with a young face and cat ears….. It all seems like a memory….. I miss them…..very much."_Blade woke up with a jolt. She started to feel uncomfortable, so she quickly got out of her bed and headed out of her room. Before she could leave Fox interrupted her.

"Blade, I need to talk to you." he had a serious look on his face."Ugh…." she followed him to the command room, Blade was amazed by all the technical things in the room, flashing buttons, levers, many different things lay before her.

"Are you getting comfortable here?" Fox chuckled as he sat in his chair.

"Not really." Blade crossed her arms.

"Watch what you say. You don't know how long I'm letting you stay here….." Blade just rolled her eyes.

"By the way I was wondering, why did you even do this…..you attacked us, why?"

"I was trying to prove myself to Star Wolf!" Blade growled.

"…You're too reckless. There's something you're hiding isn't there?" he then noticed a mark on Blade's hand.

"What's this? A tattoo…? I don't get it."

"It's not a tattoo…." she hesitated.

"Forget it." she pulled her gloves from her pocket and put them on to hide the mark.

"Anyways, you're with Star Wolf aren't you? Why would you want to join them?"

"None of your business."

"I need to know." he looked at her more seriously.

"I've always admired them….that's all."

"This is about Wolf himself, isn't it?" Blade's eyes widened.

"Don't you mention that name!"

"You're not making this easy, Blade." Blade turned her head, trying to hide tears.

"You cannot let your emotions get the better of you, don't you know that Wolf is a careless jerk, he would not waste his time with you, how can you be fooled like this, I thought you were an independent cat, you certainly act like it, so why are you crying now? Blade?" Blade could not fight back her tears, she did not care what Fox thought of her, she just couldn't hold it in anymore. She was on her knees crying.

"You don't think I don't know that! How could you ever understand what I am feeling, I'm sure you've never had trouble finding someone to love, after all, you already have that _vixen._"

"Don't bring Krystal into this! What are you trying to hide?"

"I don't have to tell you anything, and I don't care what you say, I will fight to the death if I have to!" she growled.

"I don't want to fight you."

"Then what do you want from me? You're just using me to get information, and here I thought maybe Star Fox was a good team, but you'll really do anything to beat Wolf, won't you!"

"Wolf isn't a nice person, don't you get it?"

"Well neither are you."

"What is Wolf planning, I know that you must know something!"

"He isn't doing anything! Now back off, I'm tired of this!" she still had tears in her eyes, but now she was angry.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone, but if you're going to be like that then," she growled and slowly her hands had flames coming from them, she was about to hit Fox, but suddenly-

"Blade? What are you doing? I heard yelling." It was Hikari. Blade quickly regained control of her actions and the fire from her hands diminished.

"Ugh….."

"Blade are you…..ok? Were you and Fox fighting?" Hikari seemed sincerely concerned.

"It's nothing, this is over." Fox said, walking out of the room.

"I don't know what happened, but I was so angry….."

"It's ok Blade, just don't get too grumpy." Hikari chuckled.

"Humph." Blade just crossed her arms.

"What was that all about….?"

"Fox was trying to get information from me, I just got so mad, I almost attacked him." Blade sighed and sat down on a chair beside the control panel.

"You get angry a lot….don't you Blade?"

"It's always been like this, I get angry and I can't control myself, that's why I can't get close to people…"

"I thought you were kinda close to me though, are we not friends?" Blade paused and her eyes widened. She had not thought that Hikari thought of her as a friend.

"You know….with me like this….it's probably not a good idea for us to be friends either….." She started to cry.

"What? How can you say that…..you're really not that bad, Blade." Blade couldn't listen, she was trying to get away…from everything. She got up and tore past Hikari, she was ashamed of herself.

"Wait, stop-" suddenly everything changed, a loud crash was heard, and Blade and Hikari both stopped, red lights flashed throughout the ship. It was so unreal, what was happening? The Great Fox II was going down…..But strangely Blade was only thinking one thing.

_"Will everyone be ok….?_" that was her last thought before she slipped into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Blade opened her eyes and saw white all around her. She was in an unknown place filled with cold.

"Where am I?" she shivered and lifted her head up from the snow, then she heard a voice.

"Blade are you there?" Blade saw who it was….Hikari. She looked badly injured and her face was covered in blood. Blade wanted very much to forget everything, but she couldn't ignore Hikari's voice. Hikari rushed over to her.

"Blade are you ok?" Blade brushed away the blood-stained snow around her.

"No….I'm not ok, and neither are you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, this is none of your fault."

"Fox and the others have already gone ahead searching for some place to stay, they were going to leave you behind, but I came back for you." Blade just stared at her.

"Why?"

"Well how could I just leave you out here alone?" she held out her paw. Blade took it and slowly stood up, trying to adjust to the pain. She started to walk with Hikari.

"We need to catch up with Fox."

The StarFox Team walked through the snow, each member cold, damaged, and tired.

"We'll get to safety soon." Fox said, he was the leading the group, with Krystal beside him. Marcus was not far behind. Anoki held onto his mother Hikari, and Falco was on the other side of him. Blade and Slippy were last, walking at the back of the group. The team kept going through the cold, trying to make the best of their situation.

"This has happened all too fast." Hikari said, looking around, it seemed there was nothing else in sight except snow.

"Are we gonna get our ship fixed? We won't be able to leave this planet without it." Falco called to Fox.

"Our ship may be the only way out if there's no one here, I'm not sure what planet this is…it looks somewhat familiar, but I don't know…"

Then there was a shadowy figure coming towards them, the team stopped and waited to see who would appear.

"Travelers? I haven't seen anyone like you around here." It was a polar bear, wearing a heavy leather fur coat He had round blue eyes, and sharp teeth that made him look intimidating.

"Who are you?" the bear asked. Fox walked towards him.

"We are Team StarFox, our ship crashed in the snow, and now we are searching for a place to stay."

"I could take you back to the village." the team members looked at each other for a moment, and Fox decided.

"Yes we would like to go to your village." the polar bear nodded and turned around, walking in the opposite direction, the StarFox Team followed.

"My name is Gruen by the way." they walked on until they saw a village in the distance. There were other creatures much larger than them, Fox immediately recognized them.

"I know those creatures….SnowHorn?"

"Yes, this village is near Ice Mountain." Fox thought for a moment.

"Then this must be….Sauria." Blade's eyes widened.

_She was on her home planet again._

The team entered a medium-size hut, there were rugs hung on the walls, dishes lay on shelves on one side, some beds were sitting on the other side. There was a fire in the middle of the hut.

"You all can sit down and rest for a while, you look like you've been in the cold way too long." Gruen walked over to the fire. Fox sat down with Krystal.

"At least we're safe now." Krystal sighed.

"Yes, but what really happened to the ship, Fox? Don't you know?" Falco said, and Fox stood up.

"Alright, I was going to tell you all, we had been attacked by StarWolf." everyone gasped.

"How were they able to take down the whole ship!"

"I don't know, but I got a message from Wolf himself, I didn't want to scare any of you, I thought I could stop him before it happened, but I was wrong." Blade didn't say anything, she just stared at her feet.

"We have to get that Wolf back!" Marcus shouted.

"We'll have to find a way to get off this planet first." Fox was trying to think how they would leave the planet, but he couldn't get any ideas. All the team felt calm now, at least they were safe. They were given bandages for their wounds from Gruen, and they were thankful that he let them stay there.

"I think it's best if we leave this village and go to a warmer place after a few days." Fox said.

"Yes, maybe we should head to Cape Claw?" Krystal said.

"It will be a long journey."

"But we can't stay in this place for long…." Gruen then stood up.

"You must be hungry, would you like some fish?" everyone nodded, they were very hungry.

"I think we'll need more firewood, someone has to go get it." Falco said. Blade looked up.

"I'll do it." she said, Gruen turned to her.

"There's a lot of it in the woods not too far from here, just bring some back and I'll make dinner."

"Ok." Blade got up and walked out the door, heading for the woods beyond the village. She didn't really want to do this, but she did want to get away from everyone, to be able to think for a moment. She got to the woods and looked around, there were tall trees all around her, and there was also a lot of wood just laying on the ground. She took off her gloves for a moment and looked down at her right hand, a strange black mark rested on it. She sighed.

"Why do I have to have this awful curse." she snapped back into reality when she heard a noise, something was near. Then she felt a sharp pain in her back. A creature scratched her.

"It's Blade! After all these years you've come back to hurt me once more!" The creature growled. Blade looked up at the creature, and she gasped at what she saw.

"It's…..it's you!"


	6. Chapter 6

Wolf O'Donnell sat in the main room of the StarWolf ship, thinking about the his recent success, taking down the StarFox team, he wasn't certain that Fox and the others were dead, but at least they were out of the way. He was very pleased with the new weapons he had acquired from another team he had met from a few weeks before. Now that the StarFox team was gone, his team could relax, he had planned to take a break for now. He was reading some papers on the table and chuckling to himself.

Leon sat in his room looking through his personal collection of weapons and grinning evilly at a particular dagger with blood on the side. Panther was in his room holding a rose and thinking about the events that had happened with StarFox. But surprisingly he had bigger things on his mind. Above all he couldn't stop thinking the rose he was holding.

"Who are you and why are you on our ship?" Wolf said to purple cat with pink hair who stood before him and the others on the team. The cat hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"My name is Blade Ellen, I…..I have come here because I wish to join StarWolf." Wolf walked closer to her and studied her, her clothes were long and stretched over her body, she had a few weapons equipped with her, a dagger and a small hand gun. He could tell that this cat looked nervous.

"Join us? How can you expect to just join us when we don't even know anything about you?" Blade looked around nervously.

"No wait, I've heard about you, you're a criminal aren't you?" Blade then looked up at him.

"No I've changed….I-"

"You're no different than any other criminal, I don't waste my time with weak outlaws like you." at this moment Blade felt a cold chill go down her spine, Wolf had rejected her, just like that. But she was still willing to try. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a special object.

"Here, I have this for you, it's a white rose, my gift to your team." the other two team members started whispering, and then Panther spoke up.

"Panther likes what he sees." he said a deep tone. Blade's ears then perked up.

"Yes this rose is very special to me." Panther then

walked closer to Blade and took the rose from her, leaving a surprised look on her face. Panther kept a straight face.

"Not the rose, I was talking about you." Blade turned her head away.

"Panther that's enough." Wolf snapped at him.

"I'll still keep the rose…" Panther smiled.

"Blade you cannot join us." Wolf looked at her coldly. Blade then got angry.

"I'll keep trying to join you! I'll even take down StarFox if I have to!" Wolf only laughed at this.

"Good luck."

So Panther remembered the first time he saw Blade, but then he started to think more about it, he thought more about his past. Was this really the first time he had seen her? He then wondered why Wolf wanted to take down StarFox so suddenly. He decided he would ask him. He left the white rose on his bed and walked out of the room, heading towards the main room where Wolf was sitting. Wolf heard Panther's footsteps and turned his chair around to face him.

"What is it Panther?" Panther walked closer and put his hands on the table.

"I was just wondering about StarFox." Wolf's eyes got bigger.

"What about them, they were taken down, all eight of them." Panther looked confused now.

"Eight?"

"Yes I think that Blade cat was involved." Panther looked at Wolf with shock.

"So they are all dead now!" Wolf rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, the good thing is that they're gone now. Why are you freaking out all of a sudden anyway? This isn't about Krystal, now is it?" Panther shook his head in frustration.

"No it's not like that….forget it." Panther just turned around and headed back to his room, Wolf focused his eyes back to the papers on the table once more.

"_There must be more to this than I think." _Panther walked by his desk, he looked through it until he found something interesting. An article from the Cornerian Flight Academy, it explained about a young pilot in training who was kicked out when they had found out she was a criminal.

"_Blade, that's how I know her, from Flight Academy."_

Meanwhile in the main room Wolf couldn't stop laughing at the title of his paper.

"_Sauria in Danger."_


	7. Chapter 7

_The freezing snow brushed past Blade's fur, but she felt no cold, the blood was flowing through her so fast that she felt like sweating. She stood before an old friend, now an enemy. The girl was a Sharpclaw with shining blue scales. She had a fiery red mohawk running down the back of her head, and her eyes matched her hair, a menacing bright red. She wore tribal clothing with leathery armor. The Sharpclaw glared at her for a moment, then spoke._

"_Blade, what are you doing here?" Blade stood there with nothing to say, but she spoke anyway._

"_Scales…I can't believe it." she couldn't say another word, Scales took out a dagger and stabbed Blade's hand. Blade yowled in pain and pulled away, now infuriated. She flicked her claws quickly and sent shrouds of fire towards Scales. She tried to dodge the hit, but was still caught in the flames. She shook her head and looked back at Blade, luckily her scaly skin was somewhat flame-resistant, although the burns still hurt. She lunged forward once more to attack Blade, but was pushed back._

"_Scales, stop this now, stop all this horrible fighting." Scales only growled and backed away._

"_You started it, don't you remember?" Blade thought for a moment, and scoffed._

"_I didn't do anything!" she backed away onto a tree and sat down, examining her bloody hand in disgust._

"_You became a thief, then you completely pushed me away and ignored me! What kind of friend does that?" Scales still gripped her dagger tightly, ready to attack at any time. Blade tried to explain._

"_You don't even understand Scales, I had a reason for doing all those things." Scales however, refused to listen._

"_No, I get it, first you had to visit some stupid temple, and all of a sudden you can't talk to me anymore, I've heard it all before, but none of that crap makes any sense." Blade sighed as she knew she wasn't going to get through to Scales anytime soon. Scales crossed her arms and looked away from Blade._

"_Do you even know what's happening to our planet?"_

"_What are you talking about, what's happening to Sauria?"_

"_This whole planet is falling apart, there's a new Cloudrunner king who's trying to take over Sauria, 'says he wants to get revenge for what us Sharpclaw did." Blade could not believe what she was hearing, Cloudrunners were never violent._

"_How could this happen?" _

"_I don't know, but you weren't here to try to fix this, you know you're part of the Cloudrunner Tribe!" Blade looked down at her feet, she was devastated. She remembered her past, and that she had lived with Cloudrunners ever since she was a kitten, until a terrible curse changed her forever…._

_She formed a plan in her mind, she wanted to find her mother again. If she were still alive, the only way she could find her would be if she traveled to Cloudrunner Palace. But then Blade also started to think of the Starfox team, would Hikari and the others be ok without her, and would they be worried at all? She sighed and put her worries aside, then she turned from Scales and walked away, in the direction of Cloudrunner Palace._

_Meanwhile the StarFox team was still at the hut in the snowy village. Blade had been gone for about an hour now, so Gruen had decided to get the firewood himself, and so the hut was filled with smells of exotic spices, freshly cooked meat, and sweet milk. Everyone had been so hungry so they all quickly devoured their meals. Although they did wonder why Blade wasn't back yet, they said nothing, but when everyone was finished, Hikari wiped the milk from her muzzle and then spoke._

"_Do you think Blade is ok?" Falco turned to her._

"_Heh, I'm sure she's fine. Don't worry Hikari!" everyone else felt a bit uneasy, but they still said nothing. Fox folded his arms and laid back against a wall. Krystal folded out a blanket and wrapped it around her sleepy son Marcus, and everyone else just tried to get some rest. It was going to be a long night, and they all knew it._


	8. Chapter 8

The dreamy white landscape faded away as snow melted around the forest. Slushy snow was falling off the trees. It was mid-March and the climate was changing, at least, it was to Blade, who was getting further and further from the snowy regions of Sauria. She stumbled through the brush, clutching her stomach in hunger. All she wanted was something to eat, but she had to keep moving. She stepped over some branches, and experienced a sharp cold feeling on her head, she shrieked as snow flowed off her head from a branch above her. She slowly regained her senses and wiped the slush from her hair, cursing at the cold.

"You're not seriously thinking about it….are you?" Blade's ears perked up as she heard a voice, she spun around to see Scales, who had been stealthily following her.

"What do you want?" Blade muttered

"I'm just telling you, Cloudrunner Palace is a long ways away, and you don't even have winter wear on, you're going to freeze to death."

"Why have you been following me?"

"I have nothing else to do, I was just curious why you're going through all this trouble." after Scales said this, Blade's stomach growled loudly.

"Ah, you're hungry too, aren't you? That's not going to help any-"

"Just stop it already!" Blade spat.

"Hey, I could help you get some food, you must have forgotten how to catch food, since you've been away from Sauria so long, huh?" Blade hated to ask anyone for help, but at this point, she couldn't afford not to.

"Fine."

"Good, just don't go complaining to me about anything, we are still _enemies._" Scales leapt ahead of Blade.

"There's a river nearby, the fish should be out, there's not much snow now." Scales said. Blade silently curled her lips in a smile, for her favorite food just happened to be fish. _Fresh fish _would be even better. The two neared the river in a cautious motion. There were many fish swimming around, and Blade's eyes lit up, but as hungry as she was, she knew she couldn't eat yet. First they would have to _catch _the fish. Scales scanned the waters and darted into the river faster than Blade, she spread water everywhere with her feet..

"Gotcha!" Scales yelled as she brought her hand in the air, holding a fish by the tailfin, in squirmed in her hand, but she quickly rendered it motionless.

"That was fast." Blade said, gazing in awe.

"Maybe if you had the skills you could catch one too." Scales said in a boasting manner. This angered Blade, and she scanned the river quickly, once she spotted a fish, she brought her hand down to the water in a quick motion, but her claws only dug into the riverbed.

"Try harder." Scales said, and Blade kept trying. She wanted so much to prove Scales wrong, but she couldn't. Scales continued gathering fish from the river as Blade sat and watched.

The sun was down by now, Blade and Scales sat on opposite sides with their fish in a pile, and a bunch of wood in-between them.

"Well?" Scales gave a cold stare to Blade.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to use your _great_ fire element to light a bonfire?" Blade hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. She extended her arm to the fire and waved her hand, the fire sparked from her hand to the wood and ignited it. Blade and Scales sighed as they tried to get warm around the fire.

"So, you want to see your mother again?" Scales said.

"Yes, I have to find out for myself what is going on, she's the only one that could help right now, she has all the power in the Cloudrunner tribe-"

"No, your mother is not the Queen anymore, I told you already, a new Cloudrunner has taken her place." Scales scoffed

"I just want to talk to her." Blade said as she took a fish from the pile and cooked it over the fire.

"Fine, if you think you can just fix everything somehow, then fine." Scales cooked a piece of fish as well.

"I know I can't just _fix _everything, but I have to at least get to know what exactly is going on! My tribe is slowly failing, there's no way it will last if a new ruler is trying to take over Sauria." Blade crunched the fish between her teeth and sat back against a tree.

"Well whatever, if you want to go that's fine, but I'm not going to save you if get chased by RedEye or something like that."

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Oh trust me, I won't."

The two sat and ate quietly. They both knew, tomorrow would be the day,

_The day that Blade would find her mother._


	9. Chapter 9

The StarFox team had headed for Cape Claw early that day, but their trip was cut short by LightFoot. The scaly creatures stood all around them, they looked very intimidating as a whole, lining up around the valley with curious looks on their faces. The StarFox team was confused and did not know what move to make, but suddenly a tall LightFoot stood out from the crowd and walked toward them. It's steps grew louder as it approached them, and they stood frozen in their tracks.

"Who are you?" it tilted its head and scanned them over. Fox took a few steps forward and addressed the LightFoot.

"We are the StarFox Team. You might not remember me, but I've been here before, I'm Fox McCloud, I came to your planet before and and saved your tribe." the other LightFoot looked at each other quietly. Then the tall Lightfoot stood back.

"Well, as long as you're not dangerous, you can stay here, all of you." the StarFox Team all smiled in relief as there was no conflict. They spread out among the the tribe and tried their best to get comfortable, but the air was thick, and they felt endless unrest.

A great winged creature stood in a dark room, its wings were wilted, its feet chained. The creature, wearing reagal jewlrey, no longer looked like royalty. Sullen blue eyes looked upon the only window in the room.

"There is no hope for my kingdom...the CloudRunners will die out by the new leader..." the Cloudrunner Queen, now completley hopeless, thought of her life, and her family.

"I hope my children never see me like this..."

Blade was walking along the silver path leading to CloudRunner Fortress, the great structures and buildings she saw made her stop, this was her true homeland, and she didn't once forget what it looked like. there were various Cloudruner flying above her, and she felt relief...

But this feeling did not last for long, as she noticed that much had changed, and not in a good way. She glanced along the path, there were some CloudRunner working in labor tirelessly, other Cloudrunner weeping for their fallen society, Blade could not believe her eyes. The images of her people made her feel ill, and she literally had to sit down and try to take it all in.

"What is happening, have I really been gone for _that_ long?" so what Scales said had to of been true, there was a new leader, and everything was going downhill. She tried to think of a way to help, but could find nothing in her mind of quick schemes.

Suddenly there was a noise, Blade looked around, and then she noticed some Cloudrunner were walking towards her. She didn't know what to do, she just sat there and waited. The Cloudrunner eyed her carefully, and then they looked surprised.

"Is this the one?" One of them asked.

"Yeah it has to be." they looked at each other and then yelled without warning.

"Here! The Thief has finally been found after all these years!" Blade's heart jolted, she forget that she was still known as a thief on this planet, her instinct took ahold of her and she darted past the CloudRunner before they could catch her. She kept running until she got to an old building. Her heart was racing as she heard the voices of the CloudRunners getting louder, she had to hide somewhere. She quietly walked behind the building and waited, but knew those Saurians wouldn't stop looking for her. She used her quick thinking and spotted a window, she extended her claws and jumped on the side of the next building, it was easy to grasp, so she held on, climbing up until she got to the window. The glass was dark, and she wanted to make sure where she was breaking into, but to no use, she couldn't waste time. She took out her gun, (out of bullets) and rammed it onto the glass, it shattered loudly and Blade cringed, surely the CloudRunners had heard that. She crawled through the window as fast as she could.

She landed on her feet, and sighed, she thought she heard another noise, and jumped again. She could hardly see a thing, despite her cat eyesight. She heard a voice.

"Who are you?" the voice was frail, and almost a whisper. Blade froze in place, she could not bring herself to answer.

"You are...a...cat?" The voice said.

"No...I'm sorry, this can't be..." The creature was A CloudRunner, but it held its wings over its face so Blade could not see.

"That voice..."

"Please tell me who you are..." Blade said. The CloudRunner slowly lowered its wings, Blade could see tears in its pained eyes.

"So it is...you don't even recognize me... very well..." It was then that Blade noticed the chains around the CloudRunner's feet. Blade was confused, but something in her heart made her stop and kneel on the ground, she was tearing up as well. She felt a new sadness.

"No...I don't want to believe that it is you... How can you even recognize me after all these years...? Blade put her paws on her face and cried.

"I really can't believe that...and after all these years...and here you are, imprisoned..." she now knew the scent of the CloudRunner, it was her mother's very same scent. She never forgot it.

"It is fate... that we should meet in such grim conditions...Daughter Blade." Queen CloudRunner managed a smile in this dark state.

"Hey Anoki, look at this blaster I got!" A blue and white fox shouted to the falcon-fox.

"Marcus, that's just a toy, you could never find a real one!"

"That's not true, I'm sure I can find something interesting around here." Marcus looked around and saw a small shed, his eyes lit up as he had an idea. He walked over to the shed and looked inside. There were very interesting things, and Marcus gestured for his friend to come see.

"Anoki, there's fireworks!" Anoki came in quickly.

"Wow, those are real fireworks?" Marcus nodded. He picked up the fireworks and stumbled outside with Anoki behind him.

"Ok, we just have to light them." Anoki said as he took out a match from his pocket. He carefully lit the match, the tiny flame flickered from the tip. Anoki laid the match down by the fireworks and backed away. The light got brighter and suddenly a loud sound went off. The fireworks burst into the air quickly and sent an amazing display across the sky. Marcus and Anoki both smiled and looked in awe, the lights were enough to keep them busy for awhile, untill...

"NO! WHAT IS GOING ON!" The LightFoot chief shouted and Marcus and Anoki both turned around, startled.

"There's a signal going off that I did not authorize!" The LightFoot stared at them angrily.

"We were just lighting these fireworks, we didn't think it would be a big deal..." Anoki said. The LightFoot still stared.

"Do you not realize what you have done? You've shot off a signal that will attract rogue CloudRunners!" Anoki gulped, he had not expected this to go so badly.

"You can't be serious!"

"But it's true, our tribe is going to be attacked once they know our location, we've been hiding here this whole time!" Marcus and Anoki both were shocked. Suddenly they made it so enemies would come?

It was about an hour later, and the LightFoot tribe and StarFox team were holding their breath in fear, there were loud warcries heard from afar, and a new battle was beginning. The CloudRunners flew overhead and surrounded the valley, no one had expected that it would come to this. It had all happened so fast, but it wasn't the end yet.

There would have to be prisoners, and the whole StarFox team fit the description.


	10. Chapter 10

The shattered window of the CloudRunner Queen's prison was the first warning sign for her and Blade to escape, Blade had already broken the chains that bound the Queen, but her body was shaking. She knew that the guards would have heard the sounds and would be there very soon, and there would be no other escape but to get past them. There would be no way her mother could fit through the window as she did. They both waited in silence, and then there was a loud sound, the scraping of claws from the Sharpclaw guards that struggled to unlock the door. The Queen stood back and lowered her eyes.

"Don't hold back, they're fate was already sealed when they imprisoned me."

Blade nodded and stood her ground, a few more moments and the locks were no longer keeping them from the guards. The door flew open and Blade immediately noticed their cold stare, it sent a chill down her spine. The SharpClaw ran in with increasing agility, Blade dodged and unleashed a string of attacks from her claws, she would have used her gun had it not been out of bullets. The SharpClaw did not give up, they kept attacking as their rage was building, but nothing could stop the Queen CloudRunner. She raised her battered wings and beat them against the stale air, it sent a rush of wind across the room and caught some of the SharpClaw off guard, they lowered their weapons and hesitated for a moment, giving both Blade and her mother time to escape. The Queen furiously darted across to the heavy metal door, with one word escaping her mouth.

"Hurry."

Blade was not yet finished with the SharpClaw, she was enraged by the creatures that had imprisoned her mother. She almost unleashed her fire powers among them, but before she could, her mother reached back and pulled her forward by her jacket with her beak.

They ran on through the rusted hall, keeping close eye behind them for any more SharpClaw, the twists and turns of the building kept them busy. When they reached they end of the halls they both knew that they would be safe, for now. The setting sun created a haunting effect on the scenery. The two looked around and dashed across the path of broken down housing and found shelter in a nearby clearing, they both panted and tried to form a plan.

"So this is it, mother, they just stuck you in a jail like you're trash? I can't believe this, I'll do anything to get revenge."

Her mother looked at her thoughtfully.

"Don't be reckless."

Blade stopped, memories of Hikari came flooding back to her... she remembered their friendship, and what she had said to her...

_"You don't want to be reckless..."_

She struggled to bring her mind back to reality.

"Blade, I have to ask you something, it is very important."

The CloudRunner's stare caught Blade off guard.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember when you left this place?"

"This...place?" Blade was confused.

"This planet, when you were deemed a thief." Blade's eyes widened.

"I... I remember it briefly..."

"What was it that made you become a thief?"

The CloudRunner did not seemed phased at all by the subject of their discussion.

"I..."

Blade tried to get the words out, but she couldn't. The Queen raised her head and sighed.

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me, because frankly, I've known it all along."

Blade gasped and turned to her mother, she was in shock at what she was hearing.

"Yes, I must confess, All those years ago, I once had a vision, a faint vision, it spoke to me... and said, 'The cursed one would save the colony.' I hadn't known what that possibly could of meant, but when you had told me that you could no longer get close to me, that there was something keeping you from being close to anyone, I knew... I was sad I admit, I shed quite a few tears, but in my heart I knew that it was you..._you_ Blade. You are the one destined to save us from tyranny..."

"I don't understand..."

"I knew you were the one who had the curse, I saw you at that temple, That is where the curse originally resided. I never said a word though, because interfering would change everything, If I wanted our tribe to be saved, then I had to let fate run its course."

"So...you knew that... all along..."

"I also know now that the only way to break the curse is true love."

Blade shivered at the thought.

"I haven't found that person yet..." Blade said.

She sighed. Her mother gazed at the direction behind her.

"I think... that you'll find the answers if you go back to where this all started."

Blade paused, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"The temple, you need to go there."

Blade thought for a moment, would this really fix everything, or even anything? At least her mother was safe, and she could breathe a little easier, but she still had work to do, if she was really "destined" to save her tribe, then maybe going back to the source of everything wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Ok, if it's what I must do..."

Blade said and her mother nodded.

She got up and looked around her, trying to study her surroundings, then she followed a familar path that would lead her to the sacred temple.

The sun shone through and glossed the suface of a tall mossy building. the old bricks of a sacred temple lay out across a platform. There was a small opening with a carved out indentation and another platform inside it. Blade walked up the steps and focused her eyes on the platform in front of her. The silence burned her ears. One single feather lay on the surface. She struggled to settle the storm in her mind.

"This stupid feather...is what started it all..."

It started when she kitten, when she was curious as most kittens would be. She had stumbled onto the platform, not knowing that she sealed her fate. She had touched the feather, and it glowed bright white. The grotesque mark that she hated so much meshed into the surface of her hand.

_"If you get close to anyone, you will eventually destroy them...and then they will bear this curse as well..."_

She had heard it in her mind.

_"The only way to break the curse is to find true love" _

She had proceeded to push everyone away, even her best friend Scales, even her own mother. She turned to petty crime. wandering the streets and stealing food and goods from her fellow tribemembers. It was a horrible fate...

Suddenly a faint sound made Blade's ears twitch and bring her back to reality, she quickly turned her head around, still searching for the sound. It was coming above her.

"Not more CloudRunners..."

She thought, but the sound wasn't of wings flapping, but an engine. There was an aircraft coming her way. She looked in the direction of the sound and quickly saw the aircraft. It was heading straight for her. She stood her ground, the vehicle was coming closer and closer.

"Blade! Hurry, get in!"

She heard a familar voice. The craft hovered down just above her head and she saw a hand extended from the side. She hesitated, but then grabbed the hand and climbed aboard the aircraft. It started to accelerate and rise off the ground. Blade gasped at who she saw.

Blade, we don't have much time, Wolf is distracted, but not for long, I need to talk to you!"

It was Panther.

"What? Why are you here?"

Blade was shocked.

"I need to talk to you, Wolf is planning something awful, he got all these new weapons. And he's planning to destroy great civilizations... It's changed hi-"

"But why are you asking me of all people to do something?"

"I know you Blade, don't you remember me?"

Blade thought for a moment,

"I was with you when you went to Cornerian Flight Academy, we trained together...I mean, before they made you leave..."

Panther sighed. Suddenly a shadow appeared behind him.

"Panther, what are you doing?" Wolf stood behind him with an irratated look on his face, Blade's fur stood up and a chill ran down her spine. Wolf focused his eyes on Blade.

"Panther, what is _she_ doing here?"

"You can't hurt her."

Panther said bravely as he grabbed Blade's hand, Blade growled and pulled away.

"Wolf! I don't understand..." Blade said.

Wolf got closer to her.

"You don't need to understand. My plans are my business, not yours." he raised his paw and grabbed Blade by her coat collar.

"What is the meaning of this, first you come here trying to join. then you invade our ship, with the help of _Panther_ over there, you're pathetic."

Blade panicked and tried to get away.

Wolf, stop this! This is not like you!"

Panther growled and tried to stop him, but to no use, Wolf inched forward to the edge of the door of the ship. Blade's heart was pounding in her chest a million miles a minute. The cold air from outside brushed her fur and made her shiver.

"No! Don't!"

"This is the last you'll see me Blade Ellen,"

Wolf released his hand and watched Blade as she lost her balance and tipped over the edge. Blade reached out and tried to grab onto something, but failed.

The last, fleeting moment that Blade had of hope...was gone.

In her eyes the ship got smaller and smaller, she accelerated through the sky in a downward spiral, tears streaming endlessly from her eyes. The air pushed against her, she knew her fate, it was all over, just like that.

_"Why did I ever think I'd make it further than this..." _She looked below her, a mesh of green and brown lan got closer, and she braced for the quick impact that would soon come.


	11. Chapter 11

The sky was clear, and the whirring of falling was heard.

Blade fell and fell, and her body was growing colder, she came further to the ground and closed her eyes.

"I can't believe this is happening..." she thought to herself.

She fell for what seemed like forever... And then,

She felt the impact.

"Is this it?"

She had stopped completely, but she didn't understand, she wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. Her body had stopped in a swift motion, yet she felt no pain.

"What's happening to me?"

Blade felt the weight of something else below her, but it was soft, she was still moving. Everything in her mind stopped for a moment, while everything around her began to move again. Her blurry vision got clearer and she looked around.

"Don't worry, you're safe now."

A kind voice whispered to her.

"What?"

She hadn't known what to expect, but when she came to her senses she turned to see the gentle face of a familiar feline.

Panther. The fangs of his mouth showed in a quick smile, and his yellow eyes glowed and made Blade shiver. How did he save her? And why? Blade then looked down and saw the sparks of his jetpack. She couldn't understand the motivation of Panther, but even so, she was glad to be alive.

"Wolf has no right treating you like that." he said.

They neared the ground and the sounds emitting from Panther's jetpack slowly quieted. His feet touched the ground as he lowered Blade to rest.

"What are you doing?" asked Blade.

She was confused, but her heart was pounding as she caught her breath, moments ago she would have been about to die.

"Listen, you know how you wanted to join StarWolf, right?"

Panther looked at her now seriously.

"What does that have to do with anything?" said Blade.

"You have to listen to me now, remember when we met before, at Cornerian Flight Academy? You pushed me away every chance you got, and I almost gave up too, I almost pushed you away too."

Blade looked down at her feet.

"But then I finally realized when I saw the mark on your hand, there was more to it than that. Look, I know you don't want to see me, but I saved your life."

"And why?" Blade growled.

"Because, I know you're not really as bad as you say you are, you're just trying to protect everyone else. Blade, Wolf does not care about you, he won't let you join unless you prove yourself to him."

"I know..."

"Then let me help you, your _wonderful_ planet is in danger, you can't possibly do this alone."

Blade turned back and looked ahead, there was the same temple she had faced before.

"Wolf has gotten dangerous weapons from a recently new team. I don't know what's wrong with him, he would never go this far." said Panther.

"Well, then we'll have to deal with that later, right now. I have to save my planet."

"I understand, and what's a cute kitten like yourself gonna do?" Panther laughed.

"Whatever I can." said Blade.

"What can I do to show you I'm sincere?"

Panther walked closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, this time though, she didn't pull away.

"A beautiful rose." her eyes widened.

"Oh that's all good and well, I'll give you a thousand roses to show my sincerity." he said.

"One rose is all I need." she smiled.

"But you know my charm has always worked with ladies in the past." Panther smiled back, and Blade scoffed.

"What!" she turned away again.

"But, as I said before... This time it's truly sincere."

Panther reached into his pocket and pulled out a brilliant red rose.

Blade stared back at the temple.

"Your curse isn't forever."

Panther then grabbed Blade's hand and pulled her close to him.

"You... You're what I've been looking for."

It was now that Blade saw the brilliant yellow in Panther's eyes.

"So please be my rose."

Blade hesitated for a moment. But she could not hide from the one who actually was concerned for her.

"We don't have much time now..." Panther growled and grabbed Blade's hand.

They headed for the Queen, Blade's mother. They knew they had to save Dinosaur Planet. Blade had a plan, but first she had to find Hikari and the others...


End file.
